What intrigued me about the Forum were the Facts section of the Odin Brotherhood forum page. Particularly, Fact 9. My own dream experiences are what has interested me in discovering more of the gods in the first place. I have experienced dreams which only touch upon some sort of similarity with the gods and the old ways of my ancestors. The only way I have been able to hitherto explain these dreams, rather than dismiss them as being "disturbing lucid experiences," as Psychobabble Merchants (i.e., psychologists) would term them, is that my blood is awakening in me knowledge, or that somehow I am being given keys, or 'signs', to unlocking other doors which are yet open to me. And I feel I am supposed to open them.

To share one such dream and to give an example, I will detail the first one I had, now almost seven winters ago (hard to believe this time has passed so suddenly!):

As I was in a deep sleep, I dreamed that I had somehow been violently awakened and thrust onto the surface of a cold, wet rock. The first thing that struck me was the difference in light. My eyes had to adjust for a few seconds to the new level of brightness, when, in fact, it was not very bright at all, as looked to around to discover that I now rested on one of many crags in a sloping field exposed to an overcast sky and dreary rain. After I picked myself up and looked ahead, I remember seeing larger hills, perhaps small mountains, that were not far off, at least seemingly, but determining their distance was difficult, as only the base of them was visible amidst fog and low rain clouds. So I stepped further, and began to walk toward them.

I walked an incalculable distance, and the time lasted either for minutes, hours, or days. Conception of time was strange in this place, and trying to understand it seemed pointless in my dream. But upon walking toward them, and giving little heed to the empty fields all around me, I must have been closer to the mountains, because there was more shadow then, the aforementioned crags were sharper, and more profound, more numerous. I suppose my purest intention was just to simply seek shelter from the wind and the rain, and the mountains seemed the wisest choice, so that is where I walked to. It was then that, from the corner of my eye, as I walked amongst these taller standing stones at the foot of the mountain - rock formations that seemed to become larger with each step, until they were as tall as trees, it seemed - I caught a glimpse of some dark figure walking, without a sound, around one of the rocks, as if to hide. Naturally, I walked toward the rock, intending to see if I was simply seeing things, or if there was something perhaps I should be wary of. What I found I will always remember in my waking moments for the rest of my life.

There stood solemnly, in a clearing of these rocks, inside some sort of almost hollow bowl in the earth, a smaller figure, bearded, wearing an odd cap, and staring at me intensely with eyes the look of which I have never seen, and, as hard as I may try to attempt, could never relate in words. His expression wasn't one of anger, violence, or even distrust, it was almost a happy expression, and most importantly, knowing. The expression suggested eagerness. What I can remark of the creature's eyes is that they were the purest color ("blue" does no justice to describe them - crystal, maybe), and they stared at me as if they had been waiting patiently to behold me. I was speechless, and had no desire to speak. I felt that this place I was now in was somehow important, or special, and with respect I dared not step further, nor step out of it. I was now this creature's guest, somehow (at least this is how it felt), and although this creature was significantly smaller than me, it commanded a level of presence that I cannot compare to in terms of even the most important societal figure.

Finally, it revealed two tiny hands, palms open and facing me, as if in a peaceful manner, and one of them was returned to his back, as the other simply pointed what was to his right: a small cavern that I had not noticed before this, as this creature had captured and held my complete attention. It was not a command, or an order, but I followed his instruction, and went inside the cavern, the opening of which was so small that I had to almost scoot into it on my bottom.

I found inside another creature, but older seeming, identical in appearance and form as the previous creature, who did not enter with me. He simply stood, his hands behind his back also, and before him stretched a tremendously long beard that was laid along a stone table, seemingly carved out of the very rock floor of this room in the rocks. For all I knew this room was within the very mountains I had spied from where I stood on the crags, and from remembering what I can of the dream, it seems that this was probably so. The elder creature inside the room began to "speak" with me (I quote because I do not remember any words, voice, or traditional speaking, just a communication) of strange things, most of which I did not understand, and still do not, and time and memory have faded most of them. What I did understand was the consuming of the world, of many countless trees, by fire, and all this from the fire birthed of a mountain. It spoke of destruction, mostly, but of other unrelated things. It did the speaking, and I only listened.

That is when the dream ended. There was no formal goodbye, there was no chance for me to thank these creatures for what they had invited me to see, and behold, because not only as the elder spoke, so too were images stirred in my mind as plain as a movie reel of what he spoke of. There was no ceremony, or well-partings, just an end, and a disappointing return to consciousness. The last thing I remember of the interior of the of the "mountain room" was that it was lit, although by nothing, and this was strange. Light adorned all of the walls, and him, but with no source. It was not some white, majestic, "pure heavenly light," in a popular Christian sense - it was a warm, orange light, as if cast off by a fire, but there was none.

Immediately after I did wake up - this time, wake up for good - I realized that what I had just dreamed was something special, at least I felt as if it were, and I did not want to forget it. I do not think that I even slept the rest of that night, or if I did, it was with great difficulty. I remember feeling a sense of the profound in this dream, and I wanted to somehow believe that it was only that, and a fanciful one, at that. But it has lingered, and it always will. The detail was too intricate, the messages too clear, and the experience too serious. In some ways, you could say it changed me.

It was a couple of years afterward I stumbled upon the Poetic Eddas - again, a happy accident - partly because my ancestry is mostly Danish, and I wanted to 'reconnect' somehow with my forefathers, and I had read that it inspired Tolkien. I then read of dwarfs, and the Alfar, and their more than real presence in Norse society. Some months after I read the Eddas, I also (accidentally) found myself watching a documentary on the Icelandic paranormal, with which one of the primary topics was the elf-folk. This film only recalled my dream, and it is this that has led me to believe I was indeed dreaming of this mysterious people.

I am not claiming that I had some intimate experience with dwarfs, or the alfar, but I have never been able to shrug dreams away. I have looked a lot just on the matter of the Old Norse elfish people/dwarfish people, and was thrown more into the riddle when I found out that most of the time they were interchangeable terms, and this was no assistance to me. Since then, I've grown up a lot, developed a sense of purpose, and am, if any label may be applied, a Odinist.

Just this morning, I was re-reading an older translation of the Voluspa, and in the glossary, the author translates Durinn and Dvalinn (dwarfs) as translating to 'dreams/sleep' in Old Norse. Any thoughts, opinions, info on the matter?

A quick thought I had on this, I think it is profound that you came to notice less famous Elder Kin first. I actually think it lends more credibility to the notion that your dream was an extraordinary event, as many people who would not know more can think of and subsequently dream of Gods. Even many Christians know of Odin and Thor-- I would advise you to keep your eyes as open as possible in you daily life. Remember that coincidences are nonexistent and I think you will be even more amazed at what you learn and see.

Thank you for the advice. I'm very blessed in the sense I get to see marvelous signs daily and strange coincidences all too often. But it also can seem a curse, when the signs are foreboding.

The described dream is the first of many more wonderful ones, but with each year they turn more foul in nature. And it becomes almost a madness after a while, a taint. My mind's plagued with visions of Ragnarok and it causes restlessness and negativity and just sleepless nights like these. I wish I was a painter. Maybe then I could 'exorcise' them.

You described 'Elder Kin'? Who are these? Are they dvergar or alfar? And if so, what is the difference? is there one?

I have many questions on this particular matter and they're not answered with Google or Wikipedia or even indexing word patterns through digital copies of the Eddas.

And if these dreams/visions what have you aren't just a product of my faulty mind then they are very modest, none of them speak of their source.

"Elder kin" is just a term I use when speaking of any more spiritually developed being. Be it a wight, a dwarf, or Odin himself.

If they are becoming more foul, perhaps there is something the gods want you to do. Quite often (at least with me) if I am not getting the message they get more unpleasant about telling me what they want from me.

If these were svatrtalfs or Dvergar (dwarves), they represent the elemental makeup and forces of the worlds.Things like blacksmithing (what we call metallurgy and heat treating today) were considered "svartalf magic" because of how the processes changed the properties of the metal.

The thermonuclear reactions in stars that form the elements are the most primal form of dwarven magic. Processes in the earth with magma flows and the interactions with the core, forming compounds via heat and chemical reaction as well as heat and pressure are the terrestrial versions of the processes in stars. The fire from the mountain, to me, speaks of volcanism, which is one of the major factors int he earth's climate, as well as the producer of many solid and gaseous chemical compounds.

Also keep in mind, that as the worlds are holographic, or fractal in nature (no matter what level you look at them, you see the whole), so are the Edda. So, this dream may not be of the worldwide Ragnarokr, but of a personal one. That the time is right for you to undergo a massive disruption, a personal Ragnarokr, that will, in the end, produce a stronger and more advanced person. That who you are will undergo a fundamental change (hence the dwarves), and be "forged" into someone new.

Either way, it's not going to be comfortable, but I think as anyone who has been advancing knows, after the turmoil, you come out the other side as much more than you were before.